Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2014-10-20"
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- O requisito da má fé na impugnação paulianaPublication . Valente, Maria do Carmo Alves da Silva Campos; Antunes, João Tiago Morais
- Discount rates in PPP projects, survey of literature and the Portuguese casePublication . Santos, Alexandre Marques dos; Reis, Ricardo; Sarmento, JoaquimThis dissertation has five main purposes. First, to gather literature on the discount rates used by public entities and governments to assess PPP projects. Second, to typify descriptively the models used to calculate these discount rates. The most used models are: the Social Time Preference rate (STPR), the Social Opportunity Cost of Capital (SOCC), a weighted average between STPR and SOCC, and the long-term government bond. Third, to compare the usage in different countries and to analyze implications of different usage in Portugal. In order to analyze these implications in Portugal, several discount rates are calculated using these previous methods. Then, these are used to discount the future payments regarding the 36 PPP projects operating in Portugal. The differences in the NPVs are analyzed. Amongst the major results, if one used the SOCC method there would have been a lighter burden to the State. Fifth, the Portuguese case in PPPs is carefully discussed. The debate on payments to PPPs and the discount rate issue is addressed. The fact that PPPs allow shifting financial responsibilities to the future, linked with the lack of a risk assessment to the contracts led to the enormous burden to the State. Since 2003, the Portuguese legal rate is fixed at 6.08%, based on the 10-year government bond, and by today there is no update. Therefore, this dissertation suggests a new rate. When discounting PPP payments, the risk-free rate adjusted for systematic risk should be used, whereas if the project is done entirely by the public sector we recommend the risk-free only.
- Pursuit of competitive advantage for online travel agencies : driving from price to valuePublication . Vilarinho, Tiago Assis; Silva, Susana Cristina Lima da Costa eThe online travel industry is characterized by a fierce level of competition. Due to the design of its landscape, modern travel paradigms and touristic product’s characteristics, Online Travel Agencies strive to have the lowest price in order to attract customers and gain market share. Thus, their services became very similar and commoditized. Starting from this topic, online marketing strategies and actions aiming at the creation of value by differentiation rather pricing were investigated. To sum up these strategies, the Online Travel Agency’s online marketing role model was created. It was concluded that it is possible for Online Travel Agencies to provide a higher level of service able to provide a better brand positioning and customer loyalty that therefore might differentiate the agency from its competitors.
- The environment of Public-Private Partnerships : the economic determinants of PPP'sPublication . Reis, Joana Aragão Ramos Ferreira dos; Reis, Ricardo; Sarmento, JoaquimThe purpose of this paper is to analyse which are the fiscal, political, legal and economic environment determinants of aggregated investment in € in PPPs and number of PPP’s created in 25 EU member-‐states from 1995 to 2011. In order to assess which variables had a bigger impact, this article presents 3 OLS regressions models. There were several conclusions of which the most important were related to the fiscal variables. The raise of a country Primary Balance of a country spurs the creation of PPP’s. Additionally, the Debt in percentage to GDP of a given country also decreases with this occurrence. This is explained by the accounting gap that PPP’s allows, since the total costs of a given project are divided during the project lifetime and it scan take up to 30 years.
- Aplicação tópica do mel no controlo da infeção em feridas crónicas : uma revisão sistemáticaPublication . Figueira, Patrícia Margarida Pedro; Capelas, LuísINTRODUÇÃO: O estudo da aplicação tópica do mel em feridas tem vindo a obter um reconhecimento no campo do controlo da infecção. Considerado um apósito de fácil manuseamento, ao qual se identificam e se consagram propriedades distintas de poder anti-inflamatório e antibacteriano local, com atividade fúngica relatada e com resultados benéficos na redução do odor, da dor e do edema, o mel tem vindo a ser utilizado cada vez mais no tratamento de feridas das mais diversas etiologias. METODOLOGIA: Revisão sistemática da literatura cujo principal objetivo é avaliar o efeito da aplicação tópica do mel no controlo da infeção em feridas crónicas. A pesquisa efetuada em bases de dados eletrónicas e por busca manual decorreu entre os meses de Fevereiro a Agosto de 2013, revelando uma amostra final de 8 artigos. O controlo da infeção na ferida crónica foi o principal alvo a analisar nos estudos seleccionados e incluídos. A colheita e extracção de dados foram realizadas pela autora e posteriormente verificados, de forma independente, por um colega revisor. RESULTADOS: Foi possível verificar uma ação positiva do uso do mel no controlo da infeção em feridas crónicas, nomeadamente em úlceras de perna, úlceras de pé diabético, úlceras de pressão e feridas pós-operatórias. A evidência encontrada aponta para uma eficaz redução dos microrganismos patogénicos presentes no leito das feridas, observando-se igualmente uma diminuição do edema, odor e exsudado local, resultando numa melhoria significativa da redução do processo infecioso instalado. CONCLUSÃO: A aplicação tópica do mel demonstrou um potencial de actividade positiva no controlo de infecção em feridas crónicas, mas a fraca expressividade dos estudos avaliados não permitiu outro tipo de conclusões, ficando a certeza de que outros estudos e/ou o acesso a outras publicações a decorrer, poderão sedimentar este pressuposto.
- OECD Principles for good public governance of Public-Private Partnerships : the role of dedicated PPP unitsPublication . Anunciação, Maria da Piedade de Sousa Cabral de; Sarmento, Joaquim Miranda; Reis, RicardoThe purpose of this thesis is to understand whether or not the dedicated Public-Private Partnership (PPP) units set up in accordance with the recommendations put forth by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) constitute good public governance mechanisms. Our research questions are the following: (i) How and why have governments from OECD Member Countries used PPPs? (ii) How and why have governments from OECD Member Countries established dedicated PPP units? (iii) How do the dedicated PPP units from OECD Member Countries comply (or not) with the recommendations put forth by the OECD? (iv) How and why does the VFM of PPP programs differ in countries that have (or not) dedicated PPP units set up in accordance with the recommendations put forth by the OECD? Using a multiple case study research approach, this thesis answers these research questions focusing on the experience of three OECD Member Countries with dedicated PPP units: the United Kingdom, France and Portugal. It concludes that dedicated PPP units set up in accordance with OECD recommendations have the potential to constitute good public governance mechanisms, however, it also concludes that, as governance mechanisms, such units are insufficient to steward public interests. Indeed, dedicated PPP units are increasingly growing in popularity, but they are not a solution for all problems. Ultimately, the goal of this thesis is to help readers learn more about how dedicated PPP units help (or not) policy makers make PPPs work.
- Bayer’s Pharmaceutical sales expansion through virtual solutionsPublication . Wolff, Justus Richard; Cardeal, NunoThe thesis describes Bayer’s expansion strategy through virtual solutions in the Brazilian pharmaceutical market in 2013. The case study and analysis want to provide an international strategy teaching material with the aim to offer students a ground to apply and increase their knowledge based on real life examples. Bayer is a global enterprise in the fields of healthcare, agriculture and high-tech polymer materials with a history of more than 100 years in Brazil. The multinational recently approached a disruptive innovation in form of an online salesforce system since the healthcare segment suffered from high expenses for the sales force in the territorially demanding Brazilian market. Bayer could achieve prosperous results in a pioneering test of this virtual connection between sales representatives and doctors and the decision about a final implementation required further analysis. The management board was highly interested in conclusions regarding the market attractiveness, the strategic positioning in relation to competition and the strategic fit of the new approach. The overall analysis of these criteria resulted in a recommendation for the implementation of the virtual sales force unit in Brazil. The dissertation content is a case study reflecting the past events and a strategic analysis of the virtual representatives concept as expansion strategy. The latter comprises an assessment of macro- and microeconomic factors and the impact of the new concept on the competitive landscape. Furthermore, it includes a SWOT and VRIO analysis of the company and a review of the strategic fit and intent of the new virtual unit.
- O impacto da capacidade de marketing na internacionalização de e-services : o caso da Porto Editora : InfopédiaPublication . Martins, Ana Cláudia Amorim; Morais, Ricardo AlexandreEstudos recentes sugerem que as teorias tradicionais de internacionalização empresarial não se aplicam às empresas de e-services. Tais teorias tradicionais defendem que as empresas internacionalizam-se através de abordagens comportamentais ou abordagens económicas racionais, de forma gradual e incremental. No entanto, alguns especialistas discordam e não aplicam as teorias no caso do e-commerce. Estes especialistas referem-se a e-commerce mas achamos pertinente fazer uma analogia de e-commerce para e-service partindo do pressuposto que o e-service pode ser integrado no e-commerce. Dos factores salientados, entre outros, a internacionalização depende da capacidade de marketing. A capacidade de marketing representa a capacidade de uma empresa identificar mercados-alvo, desenvolver estratégias do marketing mix, e construir e manter o relacionamento com os clientes leais. Neste contexto é importante investigar algumas questões relevantes que tornam a capacidade de marketing importante na internacionalização de e-services.